Zainon Munshi Sulaiman

Zainon binti Sulaiman (22 January 1903 – 2 April 1989), sometimes known as Zainon Munshi Sulaiman because her father was a language teacher or "munshi", also called Hajjah Zain or Ibu Zain, was a Malaysian educator and politician.

Biography Born in Malacca, the sixth of eight children, she received a good education through the efforts of her father, Munshi Sulaiman. She headed the Johor chapter of the Malay Women Teachers Association from 1930 to 1949. On their behalf, in 1932, she founded Bulan Melayu, a Jawi publication for women teachers, as counterpart to Majalah Guru, a similar periodical intended for men teachers. She became its manager and editor, using it to draw attention to the position of women, with the stated aims of "assisting fellow women, whether those working at home or those working outside" and bringing "enlightenment to the Malay world".

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, she attended Japanese classes, organized by the Japanese administration and made compulsory to all teachers. She welcomed this opportunity of being able to communicate with the enemy. After the occupation she organised support activities and rehabilitation for women whom the Japanese soldiers had used as their 'comfort' women. He died of tuberculosis in 1945, just before the Japanese Occupation ended. Their eldest daughter, Adibah Amin (born 1936), became a teacher, journalist and writer. They also had another daughter, Fadzilah, who became a university lecturer and a son, Sulaiman Shakib, who worked in a bank.

Places named after her Several places were named after her, including: Kolej Ibu Zain, a residential college at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor